Wait....am I running a marathon or an ultra?!

Well after months of training and some super strategic coaching by Liza, I am fully prepared to run New Mexico's State Marathon Championship (Run than Wine). Boy was this a race that I will never forget!  It's hard to put words to what went down on this day. Needless to say, I am currently laying on my bed and typing out this race report with crutches right next to me because I can't put any weight on my left leg. I saw a Doctor and they believe that I may have tore my abductor at the hip but without other tests to confirm, they won't be sure. I leave for Warsaw, Poland in a few days and hope to get some tests done there. As for now, I am hoping to still be in decent shape for Javelina100. Just trying to remain positive.  Enjoy the report....cheers!

Run then Wine Race Report
Time: 4:45 for 32 miles (it gets better...trust me)
2nd in my age group
I'm calling this race report, "Escape from Tartarus". The title is the perfect description of the carnage that went down today! If you are familiar with Greek Mythology, Tartarus is the deepest, darkest depths of "hell". A place where 200 fallen angels (Titans) lay in a cage. There are only two known mortals who have gone to Tartarus and made it out but not without cost. This was my day.....lol. Where to begin...ahhh

Last night, went to bed early (6pm) and woke up at 0330 ready to get my run on. My HR was 46 and I was feeling pretty good. Threw on a motivation speech I listen to and slowly worked through my tasks to get ready. We got in the vehicle and drove down to the site. I ran nice and slow to get the muscles warmed up and then stretched. I felt extremely relaxed and laid down on the ground and watched the stars fade as the sun begin to rise. I did one last check on weather and to my surprise, it read 74* and 98% humidity. I double check another website and that one read 40% humidity and another said 60% humidity. Confused, I split the difference and adjusted my times. After that, a five minute warning was called out so I quickly ran to the front and did one last check on the ever changing route. Yes, it changed even overnight. My biggest concern was whether the aid stations were different especially since we had high temps and humidity. I studied the route changes and made sure the WS and aid stations were still every mile. I was happy and things were looking good for a solid run.

We all toe-the-line and some announcements were made. The biggest announcement was that water is going to made available everywhere and too not worry about that and the aid stations were going to be every other mile to include medical support. I was pretty happy to be running NM's State Championship, a Boston Qualifier route, and the 2016 Olympic Trials Qualifier. Things were awesome. The gun goes off!

Mile 1-4: I'm currently running in 4th place and not affected by the pressure of other runners. We come to "t" in the road and I know to go left but I see the other runners going straight. They are about 500 yards in front of me. No need to yell. At the end of mile 3, I'm feeling pretty good. Legs are feeling light, breathing is coming easy, and I'm hitting every water station. Half the bottle to splash on me and half to drink. I hit mile 4 and get told by the cop that I am in 1st place because the others are off-route. I'm surprised but still no pressure. I'm a little off time, the sun is out and now pounding us with some serious heat.

Mile 5-16: I finally get to the dirt roads. I look back and no one is behind me. I begin to think if I took a wrong turn. I look out and see someone waving me down. It's all good, I'm on route and now minutes ahead of the next person (water station intel). At this point, I pass mile 6 WS and I'm not seeing any water stations through 7,8, and 9. I'm out in the blazing sun, I'm tapped on my nutrition and my water. I hit mile 10 and mile 11, still no water or aid station. At this point, I am dialed way back in level of effort. Salt stains everywhere. The three guys that were lost, magically appear back on route and are in front of me. They are running and walking and not really moving at a hard pace. We all hit mile 12 within minutes and I look down at the ground and see a tent stake with a piece of duct tape and the numbers 14 written on them. I didn't think nothing of it until I went to check my time and realized my watch read 14 miles. Hmmmm, that's weird....well one more mile and I'll be at the half-way point. I run another mile and I hit another tent stake at 15 miles and my GPS reads 15 miles and I don't see a half-way station. I keep running and at mile 16, I see an aid station ahead. I run up and get a re-fill and salt tabs from Aja and then check-in. Their sign says 13.1. I tell them they are off by over two miles and the water stations are not sufficient for the heat and humidity. I relayed that a lot of people aren't running with the water bottles because water was supposed to be available every mile. I was told to everything is ok and to keep this "all in fun". I literally stared at them and said, "you're not out here running in this heat and no one is expecting to run a 30-32 mile course". They just laughed it off and said I should focus on my running and my safety. WHAT A-HOLES!!!!! (Picture of Madre and Aja waiting at the 15 mile marker wondering where the half-way point is)

Mile 16-20: At this point, I'm running ultra pace. I've realized I'm not going to reach my goal. Aja kept leap frogging me with the car. I angrily told her that she needs to leave and let me deal with this race and finishing because "getting in the damn car is looking to enticing right now". At this point, I've lost all emotional control. I was pissed about my interaction with "aid" workers, not canxing the race when the course changed a few days ago, AND having to run possibly 32 miles on a super hot ass day. I was crying, running/walking, tapped on water (again), and nutrition. I was still passing a lot of carnage. Mostly folks who turned around early. I've never been that low. My pulse was through the roof and I could feel my body being heat challenged. At mile 20, I hit the aid station and this chick grabs my water bottle and fills it up. She looked at me and said "most people are shortcutting this race but something tells me you're not". I looked back at her with tears running down my face and told her "hell no! I came to finish what I started despite how slow I'm running". I got a hug which made me even more emotional. Told everyone there that I loved them...lol and shoved off for the last 12 miles.

20-31 and some change: I'm a mess! I'm cramping. I can see the heat waves of the streets and it's messing with my mind. 21 ticks away, no stations. 22 ticks-away--water is limited to one cup per runner. Forgot to mention the only "aid' at each station was a zip-lock bag of jolly ranchers FOR A MARATHON!!!! 23 tick-away and somehow I figured out how to stay running again. 24, 25, 26 running is slow but at least I'm running. 27, I'm reciting the last verse of Invictus over and over again. 31 and some change to the finish was the most non-emotional and kick finish that I have ever experienced. I turned the corner and dash across a four-lane road with cars on them and work my way through the last 200 hundred yards. I didn't even look at my time. I just bowed my head as they put a medal around my neck and I heard the words "good job, sorry for the few extra miles". I rinsed off with a couple of cups of water, walked to the car and drove home.

Words can't even describe what I'm feeling right now. I'm still cramping and I know I lost a ton of water weight. Chaffing is at the all time high and my hip flexors are on fire. I'm laying in my bed too scared to move because I know there's a good chance of a major cramp session. I was also bit like no other by mosquitos which puts a nice sting to this race. I feel worse today than I did running MMT100 last year. (We stopped counting at 100)

On a positive note, I guess this could count as my 2nd ultra and I did a 2nd place finish in my age group for this race. I'm not sure how rankings worked since folks shorted the route to make it a 26.2 race.  Oh well....I'll take and it's well deserved.

I am proud of what I accomplished today despite the course challenges and I learned a lot about myself. I was in a dark spot today, I worked through it, and got focused again. I'm chomping at the bit to get focused on Javelina. I think I'm going to need to a few days rest and I'm hoping that those extra miles didn't aggravate my hip flexor. I'm hobbling right now. I can stretch it no problem, I am just having some difficulty putting weight on it. Just to be sure, I am staying in NM and going to see a Dr. about it. I'll keep you posted